by Eva Leon
“Turn around, little one,” he said in that same fake sweet voice he’d used when he came into the room.
A moment later, he’d shoved me onto the bed and kicked my legs apart. He’d kicked my ankles so hard that I’d thought one of them had broken. I screamed, and he shoved my face into the mattress.
“Quiet down, you little bitch, or you can stay like that until you suffocate,” he snapped.
I quieted down as much as I could, but I couldn’t stop sobbing. He ran a hand over my bottom and then dipped it between my buttocks. “That’s better. You’re not really slick enough. I didn’t pay to fuck a dry hole,” he said and forced his fingers into me. “But you are still intact. So I can work with that.”
It burned when he put his fingers in me, and I bit down on the comforter. I sobbed when I thought about how if it hurt that much with his fingers, it was going to be horrific when he shoved his cock inside of me.
My whole body tensed up. “You’re going to need to relax, little one,” he said and hit me across the back of the head. “You’re so tight, I’m not sure I can get it in if you don’t relax.”
I felt his hand between my legs again. He started rubbing me in a way that probably would have felt good in another situation, but it just made me feel sick and dirty. I didn’t know at the time, but he was rubbing my cock to make me slick.
“That’s better,” he said and stopped right as I was starting to think it might not be too bad. My hips must have moved up toward him involuntarily because he pulled his belt off in a flash and cracked it across my backside. “That’s all you get, you greedy little bitch. I don’t give a shit if you come or not.” He wrapped the belt around my neck. “You can play with your own little cock on your own time.”
I felt something nudge against me there. I stung because he’d already hurt me with his fingers. “You’ll always remember you first time, little one,” he said in that sickeningly sweet voice.
And then there was nothing but searing pain and the sound of my own screaming. He pushed my face into the mattress to shut me up, and then it all went black.
Hands were gripping my shoulders, and someone was screaming. As Leena’s face came into focus, I realized it was me.
“Finn,” she said and shook me harder. “Snap out of it.”
She was so close, and for a second, I caught a whiff of something familiar over the scent of the food she’d brought down to me. It was the scent of tobacco smoke. Leena had been smoking.
I had one chance. The idea formed in my head in between sobs. It was as if it were the Muse come down from above to whisper inspiration in my ear. Before she stopped shaking me, I slid my hand into her apron pocket and felt my fingers curl around my prize.
Who knows what would happen to her when Damon found out how I’d gotten the lighter, but I didn’t care. It was a chance, and I had to take it.
“I’m okay,” I said as I slid the lighter under the covers. “I’m all right. I’m sorry. I must’ve dozed off and had a nightmare.”
“Well, you need to stop all that screaming before he comes back. I’ve brought you food,” she said and pointed to a tray on the table.
“And my pill?”
“Boss said you can have that when you eat,” she said and walked over to the table to sit down. “You eat. I give the pill.”
I had no choice. I got the feeling Leena didn’t like to upset Damon, so she appeared to have every intention of sitting there with me until I ate the food.
Oh, well.
The food would only help me with my plan, and everything would be easier once I got a fix. When my skin stopped crawling and my muscles stopped throbbing, I’d be able to put my plan in motion. Plus, I couldn’t set the house on fire with Leena there. She’d probably hit me over the head and take the lighter back, and at the very least, she’d put the fire out.
“Okay,” I said. “It smells delicious.”
It did. Damon was right about her cooking. I didn’t even have to taste it to know she was talented.
I sat down across from her and dug into the empanadas and meat stew. It’s what she made the night before, but the food was so fresh. It didn’t taste reheated at all, and I wondered if she’d made it new for me.
“Thank you,” I said when I’d polished it off. “It was very good.”
“You want more? Sir said to give you as much to eat as you want.”
“No, I’m good,” I said and patted my full belly. “But I would like my medicine. If I go too long, I’ll start to feel sick and all that food will be wasted.”
She pulled the one pill out of the other side of her apron and handed it to me. Either she or Damon was too smart to bring the whole bottle down. That was unfortunate, but the lighter had been good luck. I needed to remember that. Even better was that she didn’t notice the lighter was gone when she got the pill out of the apron pocket.
I took the pill quickly and finished off the glass of milk she’d brought down with the food. Leena took the tray and left.
Who knew how long I had before she realized I’d pickpocketed her lighter? I raced into action. I stripped the bed of the linens and pilled them into the middle of the bathroom floor with all of the towels I could find.
For one brief moment I wondered if what I was doing was a good idea. But surely if there was a fire, someone would have to come open the door and I’d be able to escape in the chaos. A fire would bring the fire department, and he couldn’t keep me then.
I had to do it. It was my only way out. With food in my belly and the pill beginning to take effect, I felt strong. I felt like fighting.
So, I knelt down next to the pile and used the lighter to set it on fire. It was harder to do than I thought it would be, but I managed to get a blaze going.
As the bathroom began to fill with smoke, I backed out of the room and waited by the basement door for my freedom.
Chapter Thirteen
Damon
I was finishing up my beer when my phone rang. It was the ringtone I had set for Leena, and my blood ran cold. She knew not to bother me when I was out unless it was something serious. I knew then that I shouldn’t have left the house. It was too soon in my relationship with Finn for me to leave him alone.
“What is it?” I asked as I got off the barstool and started for the door.
“Sir, the house is filled with smoke. I think there is a fire.”
“You think there is a fire? You don’t know?” How was that possible. Either the house was on fire or it wasn’t. That’s when it hit me, but how would he have started a fire? I’d left nothing in the bedroom or bathroom he could use. I knew that for a fact. I’d checked and rechecked it multiple times.
“I called you first,” Leena said. “I didn’t call the fire department, but I hear sirens coming.”
Damn.
Just as I was about to head out the front door, Stanislav and two of his goons walked in. I couldn’t believe they had the balls to walk into the clubhouse, but I guess he was pissed about the loss of one of his Omegas. There could be only one reason why he was there, and that reason had to be me.
The timing was awful. I normally wouldn’t run from him, especially when he was on my turf, but I had to get home. I’d have to deal with him later. Hopefully, the brothers would toss him out on his ass when he started talking shit about me. I just had to trust that the prospect would keep his mouth shut.
Slavie hadn’t seen me, so I whipped around and headed toward the back of the clubhouse. Once I was outside, I made my way around to the front parking lot, and fortunately, Stanislav hadn’t left a guard outside. My ride was just a hundred feet away, and there wasn’t a soul in sight in the parking lot.
I mounted my bike and walked it to the edge of the road. Once I knew I could get out before he had time to react, I lit up the motor and tore down the road.
Wasting time sneaking around was bullshit, but if he’d tried to stop me or shot at me, it would have cost me even more time. Or, I never would have made it home. I h
ad a bad feeling about what was going down. There was no part of me that thought the fire was a coincidence. Finn was a fighter for sure, and he still believed he was better off without me. I knew that wasn’t true, but I hadn’t had time to convince him yet.
It felt like the road stretched out indefinitely before me. The clubhouse was a short ride from my house but knowing it might be on fire made every second feel like an eternity. I gunned it on the long stretches, but as soon as I hit any traffic, that had to stop.
Every light was red, but I couldn’t risk running them. I’d made it past Stanislav and his men, and I didn’t need the cops pulling me over. Who knew if I’d end up in the back of a squad car because the cop was more loyal to Slavie. Or worse yet, a do-gooder who refused to come under the club’s umbrella.
When I turned onto my street, I could see the police cars and fire trucks in front of my house. There were no sirens, but red and blue lights lit up the overcast day. Leena was in front of the house waving her arms and yelling something at a few of the firemen. They were ignoring her, but she persisted.
I didn’t see Finn anywhere, and my stomach dropped. Leena had kept my secret, but it could have cost Finn his life. If my Omega had started a fire and was locked in his room with it, he didn’t have much time left. But I had to be careful or they’d take him from me. I had to save the Omega from the flames and from those who would steal him away.
The firemen tried to stop me, but I shoulder-checked one of them and pushed past the rest. The house was full of smoke, and I had to get low to move through the living room and the kitchen to the back hallway where the basement stairs were located. I’d hoped that maybe they hadn’t found the door that led to that part of the basement. The location wasn’t obvious. The smoke had led them to it, though. It was coming from the basement.
I descended the stairs and found two firemen were trying to break down the door with an ax. I grabbed one of them and yanked him back just as a loud whirring sound started. My house’s ventilation system had kicked in, and it was sucking the smoke out. I could even feel a cool breeze wafting down the stairs. It should have kicked on sooner. I’d have to get the contractor in there to make the needed repairs, but that was an issue for later. Right then, I needed to get the firemen the fuck out of there and get to Finn.
“You’re dismissed,” I said.
“What?”
“You are dismissed. I don’t want you here. Get off my property or I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”
“But, sir, the fire.,,”
“I’ll handle it,” I said and punched a code into the keypad. There was a sprinkler system throughout the house that was temperature triggered in the event of a fire, but the sprinklers in that part of the basement had been disabled for years because the other half of that part of the basement housed things I absolutely did not want to get wet. I hadn’t turned them back on when I put Finn in his room because I never dreamed he’d start a fire. I’d been careless. I still hadn’t figured out how he’d done it, but that didn’t matter. Two clicks on the security pad, and I enabled the sprinklers again.
“Sir,” the other one said in a warning tone.
“If you knew who I was, you’d back away and get the fuck off my property.”
“Let’s go, boys.” A voice came from the top of the stairs. It was a police officer I vaguely recognized, but obviously he knew me. “The man wants you off his property.”
As soon as they started up the stairs, I opened the door. Smoke poured out and choked me, but I could hear the sprinklers working and feel their spray. Still, I had no way of knowing if Finn had survived all the smoke.
Chapter Fourteen
Finn
Smoke filled the little bathroom quickly, and as it began to snake across the ceiling and out into the bedroom, I began to realize what a huge mistake I’d made. I tried to go back into the bathroom and put the fire out using water from the sink and shower, but it got so hot in there so fast. I began to choke and fled the bathroom. I closed the door behind me in the hopes that it would keep the fire and smoke out of the bedroom until help came.
It slowed the smoke down for a while, but eventually the bedroom began to fill again. I didn’t hear any kind of alarms going off, but I figured that in a big fancy house it might have been something wired right to the fire department.
I clung to the hope that Leena would come let me out of the bedroom, but she didn’t. She was loyal to Damon to a fault, and once she figured out that I’d stolen her lighter, my guess was she didn’t care if I died. I’d probably cost her a good job.
Why was I such a miserable little bitch? No one was coming to rescue me. I’d die down here, and I’d ruined Leena’s life to boot.
No one ever saves me, I thought as my lungs burned and my eyes stung.
I lay down on the floor close to the door to get away from the smoke. The air seemed a little better down low. I still felt as if I were suffocating, but I might have bought myself a few minutes.
I couldn’t control a sudden fit of hysterical laughter. A couple days before I’d wanted nothing more than to die, but there I was clinging to the floor and only a few more minutes of life.
Darkness closed around me. I was seconds away from passing out because of the lack of air, and I wondered if I should just give in and let go. I could almost see the woman in the purple t-shirt waiting for me on the other side of the smoke. It was as if her soft, loving arms were wrapped around me again. She was ready to carry me to our little home in heaven. I smiled at the thought. After all those years of wondering, it finally occurred to me who she was. She must have been my grandmother. Someone in the world had loved me.
Knowing that gave me a boost of strength. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but my survival instincts kicked in. I pushed myself up as best I could on weakened arms, and instantly felt someone lift me up.
It wasn’t the soft touch of my grandmother, though. The door had opened and water rained down on me. I hadn’t noticed as the darkness closed in on me.
It was Damon. He was there, and he had scooped me up into his arms. “Is this a dream?” I asked as my head lolled against his shoulder.
“No, little Omega, I’ve got you,” he said and carried me out of the room.
His arms tightened around me, and the burning in my lungs turned into a warmth radiating out to my fingertips and down to my toes. The air outside of the room was much fresher, and I drew in a deep, cool breath.
We only stopped for a moment while he retrieved a sheet and wrapped me in it. Damon carried me outside and a paramedic rushed to us. He placed an oxygen mask over my face and tried to take me from Damon.
There were a few firemen standing around watching us, but none of them were doing anything. One of them approached despite Damon shooting him a warning glance.
“You should let us check the house, sir,” he said plainly.
“I have more faith in my fire suppression system than I do in you. I told you to leave.”
“You need to let us take the Omega.”
“I have a private physician that will see to him.”
“You should let us take him to the hospital,” the paramedic said cautiously.
“Is he in immediate danger?” Damon growled protectively.
“No. His vitals are stable enough, but you’ll want to have him evaluated for smoke inhalation,” he said as he checked my pulse and oxygen saturation with a small finger device.
“And I will. But I will do it with my private doctor. If he should need hospitalization, I will arrange that.”
“Sir,” the paramedic said as he removed the oxygen mask from my face. “What do you want to do?” he asked me, but Damon cut him off.
“You. Are. Dismissed.”
I hadn’t realized how hard I’d been clinging to Damon. I didn’t want him to let them take me away, and he hadn’t let me go.
He was the first man who had ever tried to help me, and I didn’t want to go with complete strangers.
&n
bsp; “Please don’t send me away,” I begged him.
“I’m not,” he said and planted a kiss on my head. I couldn’t believe I’d said it, but the terror and adrenaline were wearing off, and I felt woozy and out of it.
Damon looked concerned, but there was an edge in his eye. There was going to be hell to pay for what I’d done. I just wondered how badly he would make me regret staying.
Damon took me back into the house. We had to stay on the other side while a cleaning crew came in to assess the damage. The house had a ventilation system that cleared the smoke out quickly, so it would turn out that the cleanup job wouldn’t be too bad.
He put me in a bedroom and cuffed one of my hands to the bedframe. He then called the doctor in to look me over.
“Let him rest for a day,” the doctor told Damon. “He’ll be fine by tomorrow. If he starts coughing uncontrollably or has trouble breathing, give him two puffs of this and call me right away.” He handed Damon a little plastic inhaler.
“Thank you, doctor,” Damon said and showed him out of the room. He then turned his attention back to me. “You can have your day to rest if you behave. Tomorrow we’re going to deal with this.”
I dozed on and off the rest of the day. Leena brought me food and my pill a couple of times. The look she gave me could have bored holes in my head, but she didn’t mention the lighter. I felt awful for the position I’d put her in, but I was too tired and weak. So I just ate the food and slept. I knew I’d need my strength for whatever Damon had in store for me the next day.
Chapter Fifteen
Damon
The fire hadn’t done any structural damage, and thanks to knowing some of the best forensic cleaners in the area, my house was almost as good as new within a day. They thought it was a bit strange that I’d called them in for a smoke cleanup, but the nice thing about my line of work is that trusted contractors don’t ask too many questions.
With the damage dealt with, I had a bigger issue. Finn had started the fire, and I had to figure out how he’d done it.